Ever wondered how many laps you can do of Chew Valley Lake on a scooter in 24 Hours?

Well until recently it’s not something that’s kept me awake at night. That is until one of those nights in the pub when someone gets one of those strange ideas.

In the past we’ve gone to Barcelona a couple of times in an old car that cost £200 and raised money for good causes, so decided it would be good to do something close to home and support a good cause that’s really close to home too.

We came up with the 24 Hour Chew Lake Endurance Challenge on a BMW C1 scooter, (Yes that’s the strange looking bike with the windscreen and a roof!) and our good cause will be the Neuroblastoma Children’s Cancer Alliance (NCCA UK) and all the money raised will go to a fund setup for a local boy, Harvey Hext.

About Harvey:- Harvey is an 8yr old identical twin, he and his brother Spencer both have Down’s syndrome.

Harvey was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in June 2010. His treatment involved 70 days of chemotherapy, 14hrs of Surgery, 4 rounds of high dose radiotherapy with stem cell recovery and 18months of oral chemotherapy.

Harvey’s cancer was then stable for 17months when in Oct last year a routine MRI scan picked up a mass in his chest. After another 5hr operation the new tumour was successfully removed, however the biopsy from the new tumour proved that this was now a different type of cancer, most probably caused by the previous treatment.  Harvey still has “hot spots” of cancer but it is considered stable. He is scanned every 3 months.

Harvey is the only known child worldwide to have both Down’s syndrome and Neuroblastoma. We are raising funds so that should Harvey’s Neuroblastoma progress he will be able to access clinical trials abroad that are not currently available in the UK.

So if you are able to support us you can make a donation here at this site or text BMWC99 (amount) to 70070

We would like to point out that we are funding the costs of the challenge and ALL the money raised will go directly to Harvey’s fund at the NCCA UK.

The Endurance Challenge:- Bristol Water have very kindly agreed to let us use the picnic area as a base for our challenge and as the Start/Finish. So,  on 1st August at 11am Harvey and his brother Spencer will wave the chequered flag at the Chew Valley Lake Picnic Area 2 and start us off on our 24 hour journey.

The riders will be Nick and Simon King, Ralph and Marion Ferrand, Guy Powell, John Warren and Alf Bartlett,

 I would like to mention Alan Ford from Pensford who has helped organise the event and will be helping on the day, and a big thank you to Steve Arnold from Pensford for lending us his Scooter even though he will be on holiday at the time. (Dont worry Steve we will clean the flies off it afterwards!)

Your Challenge:- If you don’t have much to do on the 1st or 2nd August why not come along and wish us luck or just look out for us passing through the villages around the lake over the 24 hours!  But more importantly we hope that you can find a little help in your hearts for a brave little boy and make a donation.